The present invention relates generally to a housing for use in shipping and handling of a product contained within the housing. More specifically, the invention relates to a housing for shipping a flexible fluid filled container within the housing and preventing or reducing the risk of damage to the fluid container.
It is, of course, known to ship products of all types in a container or other housing. Typically, a housing in the form of a box having four side walls, a top wall and a bottom wall is used for shipping a product.
Due to concerns with respect to damaging and/or breaking of products during shipment, a number of techniques for packaging products within the housing have been used to reduce the likelihood that the product being shipped is damaged. For example, it is known to use packaging material, e.g., foam-like pieces, to pack the product and limit shifting of the product within the housing. Alternatively, the product may be secured in so-called "bubble wrap" which places any direct stresses from handling during shipment on compressed air bubbles rather than the product itself.
It is known in a number of industries, e.g. the medical industry, to package liquid products in flexible containers. These containers are generally constructed from flexible sheets of plastic of various forms and structures. The containers are constructed so as to house different volumes of fluid. Some containers are designed to house small amounts of fluid, e.g. 50 ml, while other containers are constructed to house large volumes, for example a liter of fluid or more.
One problem in constructing large volume fluid filled flexible containers is the shipment of same. Due to external forces on the containers during shipping as well as hydraulic forces exerted by the fluid within the containers, large volume flexible containers are extremely vulnerable to rupture during shipment. Indeed, the inability to ship large volume fluid filled containers without breakage has limited the use and shipment of certain sized fluid filled flexible containers.
One solution proposed to overcome the problem of rupture to large volume fluid filled flexible containers is to strengthen the primary container material(s) to withstand external forces which may cause rupture of the container. For example, more expensive grades of plastic can be used for the layer(s) of the container, or in the alternative, stronger types of glues between layers can be used to provide additional strength against rupture of the container. Such measures, however, substantially increase the cost of the containers.
A need exists, therefore, for an improved container for shipping or transporting products, such as fluid filled flexible containers.